#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Fearless Fund Racial Bias Lawsuit, NC Gov. Election Bill Veto, TN House Silences Rep. Justin Jones

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

8.29.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Fearless Fund Racial Bias Lawsuit, NC Gov. Election Bill Veto, TN House Silences  Rep. Justin Jones A white conservative billionaire has filed a lawsuit against an early-stage venture capital firm, the Fearless Fund, alleging the fund racially discriminates against white people. The CEO and General Partner of the Fearless Fund will discuss how this legal battle could set a lasting precedent for addressing venture capital disparities. Next, we're diving into the controversy surrounding a North Carolina election bill vetoed by Governor Roy Cooper. We will break down what's in the Bill and give insights on what's next. In Tennessee, chaos and contention ensue as the House's special session on public safety ends with protests erupting after adjournment. We explain how Tennessee state house Republicans are silencing the Tennessee three. We'll speak with State Representative Antonio Parkinson about the new house rule. I had the privilege of being at Chris Tucker's Golf Tournament, and today, I will share the fantastic conversation I had with Glynn Turman. You are not going to want to miss this. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at taylorpapersilling.org brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Tuesday, August 29,

2023, coming up on RollerMart. I'm Phil Tritt, streaming live on the Black Star Network from Atlanta. A white conservative is going after a black women led venture fund based here in Atlanta. We will talk with leaders of the fearless fund about this latest effort of white fear. Again,

uh, white folks just not happy at all with black folks out there who would just try to do things the right way. And so it is unbelievable when you even look at the lack of investment that goes to African-Americans in the venture capital world. that they literally believe that black men are going to vote for Donald Trump because he got a mugshot. Yep, they actually are articulating that. I told you these people are crazy, and we're absolutely seeing it. In Tennessee, there's a showdown of public safety and Republicans there continue to target and demonize black

state legislators, namely Representative Justin Jones. We'll show you the latest stupidity out of Tennessee and we'll be joined by a member of the legislature. Also, folks, I played in the Chris Tucker Golf Tournament on Monday.

I got some more great stuff. Glenn Turman as well as George Wallace. I can't wait to show y'all some of that. Folks, it is time to bring the funk of Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. Let's rolling. Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Roro, yo. Yeah, yeah.

It's rolling Martin. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's rolling Martin now. For years, I have warned y'all that white folks, namely white conservatives in America, do not want to see black folks getting ahead. There's a constant targeting

of anything that benefits black people and other minorities. Ed Bloom, a white conservative out of Texas, has been on the war path challenging anything in this country that he deems discriminatory and he calls race-based. He was the guy behind the affirmative action case that the Supreme Court decided that outlawed affirmative action in the use of college admissions. On the heels of that, he is now targeting not just law firms, but also targeting a black women-focused venture capital fund out of Atlanta. It is called the Fearless Fund. It was created by Arianne Simone, a Yana Parsons-sensitive actress,

Keisha Narpulliam. Their goal is to award $20,000 in grants, digital tools, and mentorship opportunities for black women entrepreneurs in partnership with MasterCard. Now, keep in mind, in the venture capital space, less than 2% goes to black people. In the private equity space, less than 2% goes to black people. And so we are grossly underrepresented. So we're not talking about a lot of money out there.

But white guys like Ed Bloom goes, oh, this is discriminatory against white people. So y'all get damn near 98 percent. But you bitching about the less than 2 percent. Gotcha. Now, here's what he's also doing. He literally is using the 1866 Civil Rights Act against black people. This was the same act that was passed in the wake of the Civil War. It was one of the Reconstruction versus the Reconstruction Amendments, 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments. This was one of the bills that was there to assist black folks when it came to being able to do business in America.

He's now trying to say, oh, this is really hurting white people. Yeah, that's what's going on. Folks, the CEO of the Fearless Fund, Arian Simone, and the general partner, Ayanna Parsons, they joined me right now to discuss this particular lawsuit. Glad to have both of youons. They joined me right now to discuss this particular lawsuit. Glad to have both of you here. Y'all have been doing a number of media interviews around the country, talking to a variety of people. And so, first of all, I just got to get, what was your initial reaction to Ed Bloom's lawsuit? Our initial reaction, I actually thought we were being punked by chat GPT and artificial intelligence. We received emails from the

press contacting our staff saying, hey, we'd like you to comment on this lawsuit. And I said, oh, this is a joke. So initially, we did not believe it was real. But the second we did, of course, we lawyered up and had to proceed accordingly. And we plan to continue to do all the wonderful work that we do. But, yes, initially we didn't believe that this was real. So we're talking here again about a fund that was created. Y'all started it when? In 2018, 2019, about four and a half years now, it's built by women of color for women of color.

So we actually invest in all women of color, not just African-American. We have our investment vehicle, which is one business that we run, and we also have our foundation. And through our foundation, we have grant programs, education programs that come out of there. But our investment vehicle is backed by Bank of America,

Ally Bank, MasterCard, JPMorgan Chase, PayPal Ventures, Costco, and a host of others where we do investment capital. And really, I just might add that... Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. ...we have invested more than $26 million in over 40 companies, and we've also awarded more than $3 million worth of grants through our foundation

in over 300 companies. So it is significant, I think, the impact that we've made, and it's just a small dent that we put in the ecosystem. Well, and that's the point I want to make right there, because, and again, I'm not trying to diminish, you said $26 million and $4 million, correct? $26 million and $3 million, correct? $26 million and $3 million. That's right. Gotcha.

$26 million, $26 million and $3 million. So it's $29 million. And so I'm not trying to diminish that. But I need the public to understand how much money we're talking about total that goes out in the venture capital world. What's that number? Last year, 2022, over $280 billion. And we work in a 62 trillion- Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. But let's talk at the same time. Simone, first, go ahead. In 2022, over $280 billion was deployed in venture capital. Women of color saw only 0.39% of that. In the industry we work in, of right there, Arian, is the point I want to focus on.

We're talking $280 billion. And you gave the number for black women. If you throw in black men, we still won't even get to 1.5% total. But the goal here is, well, the Ed Bloom of the world, is to specifically even shut down these avenues because, and I'll be honest with you, I don't really believe, Arian, I don't believe that y'all are actually his target. I believe the companies who you work with are his targets, and that's what they are trying to go after. I can definitely say that this lawsuit is not about us. It is, and I'll let Ayanna go ahead, but it's not about us. It's about an attack on our economic freedom

and our economic progress. Go ahead, Ayanna. No, you're absolutely right. This, Roland, this is so much bigger than us. I mean, he's come after higher education. He's come after venture capital, but he's going after employment. He's going after DEI in the corporate sector. He's going after internship programs, scholarship programs. In fact, he may be going after our HBCUs. So this is so, so much bigger than us. And he's already instilled the fear.

The fear when the lawsuit was filed right after the SBA 8A program, it is halted. So you're looking at minority grant programs halted. You're looking at minority certifications halted. It's all on pause and it's a fear tactic. So no, it's not an attack on us at all well what well on the federal level uh what they're doing is they first of all are trying to determine uh the impact of a supreme court affirmative action decision

in these other areas now to me that's stupid because that decision was specific to colleges and universities. And so what they're trying to do, what the Blum is trying to do, the Stephen Millers of the world they're trying to do, look, they've already tried to go to Kellogg. Sixteen Republican attorneys generals sent letters to about 100 different companies. They've sent letters to law firms as well. And so, yeah, they want to go after all of them. And I gave a speech the other day to the business council in Milwaukee,

and I said, this is the moment where we are going to need to see if white corporate executives are real allies, if these white corporate executives are going to. If these white corporate executives are going to look the Ed Blums of the world in the eye and say, y'all can go to hell, we are doing these programs. These are not public dollars here. We're not talking about...

We're dealing with companies who can create such programs. They want to go after the entire ecosystem that has created, and it's not like it's been great, but has created the opportunity for African Americans to be able to participate in fellowships, in scholarships, in colleges, in being able to be entrepreneurs, and they don't even like that. That's right.

I mean, this is about economic freedom and opportunity, and you shut off that access like Ed Blum is trying to do and intimidate us, it has resounding effects and impacts for generations to come. And that's why, as we talked at the March on Washington this past weekend, that it is truly a state of emergency and we need everyone to understand how much bigger this is than the Fearless Fund. I'm curious to know because I'm always about who's standing

so Arian I'll start with you I'm curious to know Black Economic Alliance Executive Leadership Council these other different groups have they reached out to y'all are they saying hey we're going to be

standing ten toes down with y'all? Are they saying, hey, we're going to be standing 10 toes down with y'all? Are you receiving phone calls? Are you receiving emails from other groups who are saying, we are not going to let them go after you alone? We're standing with you. Is that happening? Yes, we've received many phone calls, many emails, many people who are standing in solidarity with us.

You will see more mobilization coming soon. But many people have definitely come to say, we support you and we stand with you on this issue. Even as of recent, Forbes reported about how 70 venture capital firms came together and said, you know what, we stand with the fearless fund. We don't think that this is right. We are in solidarity with them. And many others are coming to the table as well, too. So that has definitely been a blessing. And we are grateful for all of them. And a lot of people

have also signed our petition at www.fearlessfreedomnow.org. And they've reached out through our website as well to join the fight. What do, what, what are you, for the folks who are watching, the folks who are listening, what is it that you would like for them to do? What would you like for them to, because again, as a point that I'm making, this thing is not just about you. It's also about the much larger issue that's going on here. And I keep saying this to our people and people are like, oh, man, you're frightening

people. No, I'm not. I really want people to understand that this thing is major. This thing is far-reaching. We literally are talking about the future economic mobility of Black America. That's right, Roland. And just to echo Arian's comments, we want everyone to get informed. The way you can do that is by visiting www.fearlessfreedomnow.org. We have plenty of information there so that you can go online, get informed, stand in solidarity with us, support us as a fund, because the worst thing that can happen is that we lose this case and it has lasting implications. But as we have shared before, we're not scared. We're fearless and we will prevail in this fight. Hold tight one second. I'm going to break. We come back. A couple of my panelists, they've got questions as well. And I really do want everybody who's watching the show. Y'all have heard me talk about white fear, how the browning of America is making white folks lose their minds.

Y'all have heard me say repeatedly that they believe that we're getting these enormous advantages that they are not getting, and it is an absolute lie. Do not, do not fall asleep on this one, folks. They are, and I've been warning y'all, they're going after everything. Any program or initiative that is out there, that is about creating opportunities for black people and people of color, they are going to go after. And by using the legal arm, they want to essentially bankrupt folks and cause them to say, we can't afford to even fight you legally, so therefore we're going to give up. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network, broadcasting live from Atlanta, back in a moment. rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not replace Donald Trump.

White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash.

This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're... I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves.

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now

isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We gotta set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game.

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we're going to talk to Leslie Segar, a.k.a. Big Les, and talk about her incredible career as a dancer, choreographer, and VJ of Rap City. Magic Johnson was there, so half the NBA was there. He modeled the supermodels, so all the supermodels were there every day, acting like it was a who's who of supermodels. So all the supermodels were there every day, acting.

Like it was a who's who, a who's who. Right here on The Frequency in the Black Star Network. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepard Talk Show. This is your boy, Herb Quaid. And you're tuned in to... Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Folks, we're talking to the leaders of the Fearless Fund, a fund out of Atlanta that focuses on black women and people of color in the venture capital world.

They are under legal assault from white conservatives like Ed Bloom, who was trying to use a civil rights law of 1866 that was put in place to help black people. He's now trying to actually use this against black people. Dr. Larry Walker joins us on the show today. He, of course, is a professor. He's the professor at the University of Central Florida, Michael Imhotep, host of the African History Network show out of Detroit. Larry, your question first for our two guests with the with the fearless fund.

Yeah, sure. Thank you, Roland. I've seen you. You talked about the obviously importance being on this show, this platform. You've been on a number of different platforms the last couple of days. And I want you to highlight to talk about the importance of letting the black community know about what the work you do and the assault that, you know, Roland and you highlighted. How important is it to get the word out to the black community in terms of the importance of your work and what could happen based on this lawsuit? Oh, it's a state of emergency. The black community definitely needs to be aware of the work that we do for multiple reasons. First, our industry is 92% white male. There are very few black female and male investors in the venture capital space.

We need more people of color, more black people as investors, because we do believe that if we can diversify the investors, we can actually even diversify the investments. So just from an industry speaking standpoint, it is crucial for people to know about this type of work in general and the industry. Regarding, of course, this attack and this lawsuit, this is a state of an emergency. This sets precedent for what is to come depending on the outcome of this case. That's how serious this is. This can have long-lasting generational effects if we don't get a hold of this right now and stop this. Michael.

All right, Ari and Ayanna, thanks for coming on and sharing this information. So, I read the articles from The Washington Post and Associated Press on this. And in The Washington Post, it said that the according to the lawsuit, it says that the Fearless Fund is, quote, open only to black females, end quote. But one of you stated that is open to women of color and not exclusively for African-American women. Am I correct in what you said? Am I correct in what I heard? Ms. Michael, you're absolutely correct. We invest in women of color. That's inclusive of Latinas. That's inclusive of Native American.

It's inclusive of Asian and Black women. You're absolutely correct. And we did that because this demographic, holistically, is the most founded, yet the least funded demographic. We make up more than 20 percent of the U.S. population. And as we shared earlier, we receive less than half of one percent of venture funds. So just a quick follow up question. What is the what is the legal foundation of his argument

if in the lawsuit it misstates who you allocate the funds to. That we can't get into? Yeah, we can't get into the lawsuit. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on one second, hold on one second, hold on. Hold on one second. They can't get into the lawsuit because obviously they're in the middle of a Michael. Michael, here's what, there is no, let me, I can say this.

There is no legal, there is no legal argument. Here's the strategy that I need everybody to understand, and we've seen this already. By filing the lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, what they want to do is create pain, concern, dissension, and fear in the marketplace. Right. So, here's a perfect example. Here's a perfect example. There was a conservative outfit in Virginia. What they were doing, they were sending letters to largely rural black cities

in Mississippi and Alabama and other places saying that they had people on their voting rolls who were illegal. And they were saying, if you don't drop them, we're going to sue you. There were several cities that were so broke, they said, oh, my God, we can't afford the lawsuit. So they changed. And they got busted when they got reported on. But they were being effective because they were using the legal argument. And you've got to remember, this billionaire just gave the leader of the Fairless Society $1.6 billion to use any way that he wants. Leonard Leo is funding many of these conservative, these conservative efforts.

And so the strategy, the strategy, and I'll get again, and I'll let them speak in a second, but the strategy is not to actually win a lawsuit. The strategy is by the fear of the lawsuit, is to cause people to literally stop and end any such programs in their place right now. That's the legal strategy. Go right ahead, Arianne or Ayanna. Well, I think you pretty much said it best, or summed it up rather. This is not an attack on us. It's definitely to instill fear. I think that's the best way to sum it up. Of course, we can't get into the logistics of the lawsuit, but just by the filing suit'm like, oh, no, you need to stand up for what you believe in and what your programs are designed to do. They wouldn't exist if the disparities didn't exist. So they have to continue.

That's right. And and I know I know. I mean, I know these are these are friends and these are clients. But I'm just going to say to the both of you, any of these companies, any of these companies that are all of a sudden getting skittish or pressing the pause button or changing as a result, please let us know. Because here's the thing. These are the same companies that we as black folks don't need to be supporting with our dollars. Because what if they're not going to and this is the point I keep making. If they are not going to stand up for us against these attacks, but they still want us buying their products. That's that's that's completely unacceptable. And this is the moment black folks have been

fighting this fight forever. But this is the moment for white people, so-called allies, to stand with us and say we are going to fight tooth and nail against every single one of these efforts, just like the white military leaders stood up and wrote letters to the Supreme Court and said diversity is in the national interest of the military. And that is why in that very affirmative action ruling, Supreme Court said that it did not apply to the military academies because it's in the national a national interest. Amen. No, I understand. So go ahead. Go ahead. We definitely agree with you wholeheartedly. Luckily, in our case, though, and this may be just an outlier, our investors are definitely continuing to invest. Our investors are definitely continuing to support. So we are in a position where those companies are definitely standing by this and their work. They are going to

continue to do this work with us. But in the event there are any that are not, we have no problem letting you know. Yeah. And I think what I would just add to that, Roland, is it's such an important point you make because we saw the whole racial reckoning in our country in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's murders and Ahmaud Arbery and all of these corporate commitments that were made. To Arian's point, luckily, our investors have stood beside us in this. But there are so many corporations that made these commitments and they need to follow through. Well, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who we're going to have on the show soon, she actually has been pressing that issue as well. We've been saying the exact same thing. We've been pushing that. And again, look, we all know how these things work. Again, you know, look, look, we all know how these things work. Again, it happens a whole lot. I've dealt with other areas.

There are people who say, hey, Roland, you know, we can't say certain things or do certain things because, you know, we have business ties or they might be our friends. Let me be real clear. I ain't scared to hit nobody. And I'm going to say this again. And I've been hitting all these companies. I've been hitting folks in all these areas the biggest thing for me I am not going to let people

continue to reap the benefits of black dollars and then don't stand with black people and if anybody is wondering why am I so adamant, that's literally what Dr. King said on April 3rd 1968 at Mason Temple when he made it perfectly clear, the

one thing that we as blacks can do is economic withdrawal. The reality is black people have been putting money into this system. And in fact, when we talk about, I need everybody to understand this here, the work that y'all are doing, when you talk about the $26 million in grants to companies, the $3 million through the foundation, everybody needs to understand the greatest source, the greatest source of venture capital, private equity money in America comes from pension funds. That means public workers. That means teachers, firefighters, police officers, people who work in the sanitation department.

If you are black and you are watching and listening to this show, do understand your money. You are the financial backbone of the venture capital world. And so a significant number of these people, public workers, your money is going to essentially 90 plus percent of white men in private equity. And when people keep saying, how do we change this? I keep saying, you change it on that level. When they come to the pension funds, those states should be saying, no, no, no, no. How many black folks are y'all investing in? What black PE firms are y'all using?

What black venture capital firms are using? If y'all want access to our pension funds, y'all better have a level of diversity. And that's why I believe the Ed Blooms are also filing these lawsuits because they know that's also coming. We've already seen that happen in California, in New York State, in the city of Chicago, and some other places where they've been

saying, you're not going to come get our billions of dollars if you're not going to be investing in black people. Final comment from both of you. Oh, I love that because I always give that example of the P.E. and P.E. and B.C. being backed by the pension funds built with built by people of color primarily in those careers. And then it goes up to the 92 percent white male and then they invested in the white startups. And then very rarely does this money come all the way back down full circle into our community. So I love that example and that education because people need to definitely be aware of that. But in my final thoughts or my final words on this interview, I definitely just want people to understand that this is a state of an emergency. Please sign the petition. We would love your data. We need to mobilize behind this

and we need to stop this in its tracks. The only other thing I would add to that is that I just want our people to know that entrepreneurship is the pathway to economic freedom. And what Ed Blum is trying to do is he is trying to dismantle our economic freedom. Stock market won't do it. Home ownership won't do it. Entrepreneurship is the way to wealth creation, and that is why the Fearless Fund exists. So visit www.fearlessfreedomnow.org to join in our fight. Thank you so much, Roland, for having us. All right. Keep us abreast of what happens, and we will save the course as well. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you. Thank you. All right, folks. Going to go to break. We're going to come back. And we're going to talk more about this because I really, really, really, really, really, really need all of y'all watching to understand what you just heard. I need you to understand because I know there's somebody who's watching. I haven't pulled up the comments yet on the message boards.

And I know somebody's sitting here going, oh, all this stuff y'all talking, that's just rich black people's problem. Y'all have no idea what is going on here. And it has a direct impact on every single one of you. And we'll do that. We come back. Folks, if you're watching YouTube, hit the like button, please.

We want to easily hit 1,000, 2,000 likes every single show. Y'all love chatting. We'll hit that doggone like button. And don't forget, support us as well. Download the Black Star Network app. Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also, send me, you want to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Look, guys, this is real simple. The work that we do ain't free. It's not free. We cannot do this without your support and your help. Please join our Bring the Funk fan club.

Our goal is to get 20,000 people annually contributing on average 50 bucks. That's $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day. You can send your check and money order to PO Box 57196, Washington, D.DC, 20037-0196, Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal, or Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zale, Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.

And don't forget to get a copy of my book, White Fear, How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. Available bookstores nationwide. Download your copy. You can buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Books A Million. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes sir, we are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote

drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-up way, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else,

but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.

Download the audio version on Audible. We'll be right back. You go into a barbershop in a 700 credit score neighborhood, black or white, they're talking about their ideas and they're talking about how they're going to move on those things. You go to a barbershop and a 500 credit score, equal brilliance but bad culture, they're talking about other people. Go to a winner's barbershop, here's what I'm doing.

You go to the barbershop where people feel defeated, they're talking about other people, either celebrities or people they admire. But also often, I don't like Joe. I don't like Roland Martin. Let me tell you something. I don't understand people. How could you not like anything here you see?

You should just be like, this is amazing. It's cool. You may not even like how he does it or how I do it, but it's like, you know what? They're succeeding. They're killing it. All you should be is, that's fantastic. But if I don't like me, I'm not gonna like you.

If I don't feel good about me, it's hard for me to feel good about you. If I don't respect me, don't expect me to respect you. If I don't love me, I don't have a clue how to love you. And here's the big one. If I don't have a purpose in my life, I'm gonna make your, live from L.A. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation.

You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together, so let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get

into. It's The Culture, weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network. Damn believable. All right, folks, welcome back to the show. Larry, Michael, they're on our panel today. Michael, I'll start here with you. I'm really trying to get people, when you start talking about numbers, okay, when you heard those officers talk about less than 0.5% of the VC money go to black women.

Total, less than 2% go to black people, period. Federal government spends $560 billion a year on contracts. Black people get 1.67%. $322 billion a year is spent in the advertising space, or will be spent in 2023. 1% goes to black-owned media. We can walk this thing through states. Some are better than others. But the reality is when you go to pull up any of these states, when it comes to the money, it's typically 0.5, 1, no more than 2%, maybe 3%.

So what white folks like Ed Bloom and Stephen Miller, what they have done, they got these other white folks running around here thinking, oh my God, they're getting all the money. They're getting all these resources. Look at all of these programs for them. Well, let's be real clear. The reason you have these programs for black people and other people of color is because white folks have frozen us out of the process. Hell, I don't know anybody black who would like to say, do we have to have a black fellowship program? Well, sure.

How about if we don't have it? White folks, if you don't block us from the programs, no need to create something separate. That's why these initiatives were created, because of white racism and Jim Crow. Absolutely, Roland. And I hear people make those types of comments when we have these type of discussions. And what you have here is that African-Americans in general have largely been miseducated when it comes to money, miseducated when it comes to business, as well as history. Because some of those same people, their answer to everything is give us

reparations, but they don't know how to make legal arguments for reparations, okay? So a couple of quick things here. One, I'm glad you mentioned pension funds, okay? Because, and one of the examples I give when I teach is in 2017, in June of 2017 in New York City, the city employees in New York City divested $48 million in pension funds that they found out were invested in three privatized prisons. And oftentimes we're financing our own dehumanization and don't know it through 401k plans and pension funds. I'm not against either one, but we can choose where the money's invested. So they were educated and found out that they could divest their money from the three privatized prisons, and they did this. So what a lot of people who are watching right now, if you have 401k plans or pension funds, you can call your

benefits manager tomorrow and find out where your money is invested. And if it's invested in organizations or corporations that are doing harm to African-Americans, you can move it into other organizations that are more beneficial or do less harm, number one. Number two, very quickly, I know Ed Bloom said laws must apply equally to every racial and ethnic group in the country. So I wonder if he's going to sue on behalf of African-Americans because we only get 1.1% of the $214 billion in venture capital funding that was distributed in 2020. Hell no! So my thing is like, wait a second, hold on. We need to flip this around because in 2020, from the Trump administration,

white farmers got $26 billion in COVID-19 funding, but African-American farmers got $26 million, one-tenth of 1%. This is something that John Boyd has talked about on this show before. So I'm like, well, wait a second. Hold on. If you're saying that laws must apply equally to every

racial and ethnic group in the country, then why aren't you suing on behalf of African-Americans? Because racial and ethnic group in the country, then why aren't you suing on behalf of African Americans? Because Ed Bloom don't give a damn about black people. He is all about white people, Larry. White people. So, Roland, I coined the term, you know, grievance extremism. It's essentially what we have, particularly on behalf of, you know, a lot of white males, and Bloom is certainly an example among the other individuals we highlighted are funding these initiatives. And look, Roland, we had to call this off for what it is. And I talk about in the white sphere, this is just a response to perceived Black progress. President Obama, the racial awakening, all the other things the last couple of years that have occurred that

certain news platforms like Fox have been kind of shaping and molding the minds of, you know, whites throughout the country, not only, you know, middle class, you know, those who struggle and those from affluent backgrounds kind of believe the idea that Black people have made so much progress that we're on the same, you know, we're on equal footing, so to speak. But the reality is that Black folks in 400-plus years have been trying to level the playing field, but paying catch-up, and we're no even close

when it comes to economic development and growth, particularly when we call it investment in Black communities. And so you're right, Roland, Bloom is... This is just another example from trying to use the bully pulpit, so to speak, to try to create fear among, like you talked about, a lot of these Fortune 500 companies that you highlighted earlier that are supporting this initiative. But the bottom line is it's all hands on deck rolling. We have to make sure, and we're seeing this with this particular fund, but we have to make sure that black folks understand what's happening. How can it have a long-term impact on the terms of economic viability in our community?

And we have to prepare to attack these folks using all means necessary. And we have to be aware that at every level, whether it's higher education, venture capitalists, wherever, we're under attack. And we have to be prepared to support initiatives to make sure Black folks can thrive. And see, Michael, again, I think that what often happens when these things come up, they're people and what they'll say is they'll say, well, I mean, you know, look, I'm just a regular person. I'm just out here just trying to do my job. This stuff doesn't really impact me. It doesn't have any impact on me. Well, actually this is where they're wrong.

Because if you're trying to start a business, where are you going to get the money from? So if we start talking about black banks, CDFIs, black credit unions, things along those lines. Guess what, y'all? Who do you think are making loans? And so it has an impact. What we also know is that if you're African-American and you're starting a business, it's a great chance you're going to be hiring other black people.

So when we are frozen out of the venture capital private equity dollars, then we don't have an ability to be able to achieve scale and grow our businesses, hire more people. So again, I just keep telling people this is very basic. Very basic. If if I look at the numbers, I look at the numbers right now. So let's say we here at Black Star Network say we do. Three. Three and a half, maybe four million dollars.

OK. This year. Got about 15 people. If all of a sudden. We start getting real advertising contracts. Let's say go to. Fifty million dollars in revenue. Let's say go to $50 million in revenue. Let's say we grow the business

and we go out and we hire 50, 60, 70, 75 people. Let's just say 75 people. That's 60 more people right now. That's 60 more people with

families, individuals who are now going to be able to get paid, buy homes, send kids to college. And so that is what Ed Blum is attacking. black economic creation, black wealth creation, or creating the ability to start companies, then you are impacting every single black person, top to bottom, from employee to spouse, to children, to nieces and nephews, and you're impacting the black institutions that those individuals can then contribute to. So that means that they're HBCU graduates and we have the ability to hire them. They now are making the means to give back to their schools, to give back to black organizations, to give black back to the building, the black community. That's why I need people to understand that they are attacking what is literally has created

and funded the entire black ecosystem. And they want to bring that down. That is their strategy. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at lava for good. Plus on Apple podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the war on drugs. We are back in a big way, in a very big way, real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star studded a little bit, man.

We got a Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King,

John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else,

but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. Absolutely, Roland.

And this goes back to a dear sister who's now an ancestor, Dr. Frances Cress Wilson, who I knew and interviewed on the African History Network show. She said, if you do not understand European white supremacy and racism, what I knew and interviewed on the African History Network show, she said, if you do not understand European white supremacy and racism, what it is and how it works, everything else that you think that you understand will totally confuse you. Most of us have never really been educated on what you're explaining, what you're breaking down. I'm a historian, degree in business administration. I totally understand this.

I've managed African-American-owned companies, and we had numerous employees, okay? Ninety-five percent of African-American owned companies that and we had numerous employees. OK. Ninety five percent of African-American owned businesses only have one employee. So a lot of our people have never been taught this. But very quickly here. Back a few years ago, you hosted something called the State of Black America. And you had Reverend Al Sharpton. You had Susan from Essence. And you had Susan Taylor from Essence and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. In that same year, I think it may have been about 2018. Yeah, that was in Indianapolis.

Yep, in Indianapolis. Yep. Okay, and you broadcasted fund dollars were being invested. And one of the things he was explaining is that money managers will loan our pension fund dollars to business to white business developers. Those white business developers will take our pension fund dollars, come into our communities, develop our communities, and gentrify us out of our own communities. So once again, this is going back to how

we really have not been taught how we finance our own dehumanization. So we have to understand how this system works all together so this can go to real economic empowerment as opposed to us just being sold entrepreneurship classes that benefit the person who's teaching the entrepreneurship class. Larry, I mean, the thing that sort of irks me is when I hear people go,

man, Biden-Harris ain't done nothing for black people. But then they turn around and go, man, we need to buy land. Donald Trump didn't give a damn about no money going to black farmers and Hispanic farmers. That was passed under Biden-Harris and by Congress. That's trying to save black institutions.

Who are the people funding Ed Bloom? White Republicans. Who's funding Leonard Leo? White Republicans. Who are the people who are giving lavish gifts to Clarence Thomas so he can vote their way into Supreme Court? White Republicans. The very same white Republicans are supporting the white Republican politicians who are trying to screw us over

in state legislatures and Congress. So when I hear black people, like that fool who stopped being Dave Chappelle's show in New York, man, you need to be telling our folk to vote Republican. Why in the hell am I going to tell our people to vote for our oppressors? Now, let me be real clear.

There's no, I'm in no way saying that Democrats have who are funding Ed Bloom's lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, who funded his affirmative action lawsuit, are the very same people funding Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump and Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, and Kevin McCarthy, and Mitch McConnell, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert, and Paul Gosar, and Jim Jordan, the Republicans in North Carolina, the legislature in Tennessee, the legislature in Florida,

the governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, Tate Reeves, the governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, Tate Reeves, the governor of Mississippi, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas. We could go on and on and on. It's the exact same people. And this, Larry, is a direct assault on the future viability, the future economic and educational viability of black people. Whether your ass is black, African American, your ass call yourself FBA, ADAS, I don't care what you call it,

these people, these billionaires are funding the direct attacks on black people and our children and our children's children. folks you highlighted, what essentially they're talking about doing, not even realize, some of them not realizing, some are digging our own grave. And it's really important that folks understand you highlighted some really key points in terms of particularly legislators in various states. I'm certainly now, you know, currently in the belly of the beast, so to speak, you know, but it's really important that folks understand these are anti-Black policies. And it's not, like I said a few minutes ago, it's not you. And these folks are thinking strategically. They're thinking generational. Just like with the Roe v. Wade, you know, fight for Roe v. Wade the last couple of decades, Republicans spent decades leading up to the moment where they had put the right justices in place to overturn Roe v. Wade.

So we have to make sure that Bloom and folks in various states, you talk about Texas, certainly Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, et cetera, all these other jurisdictions throughout the United States. Once again, this all-out assault on kneecapping Black folks economically, making sure that all people don't have the opportunity to learn about African-American history, particularly when we talk about issue-laden Jim Crow and how Black folks were enslaved. They also don't want to talk about, in terms of what it means for this country, a democracy, to continue for hundreds of years to limit the opportunities that black folks have to make sure they can actually live what they call, quote, unquote, the American dream. But the bottom line is if we don't talk about this in barbershops and beauty salons, etc., people don't get on board.

Then over the next couple months leading into the 2024 election, we're going to be in a lot of trouble. We need Black folks to come out to vote, and we also, and I mean this as an all-out assault on our rights. And we have to make sure we're ready starting today. All right,

Ben. Let me say this real quick. Somebody, what the hell? This is so stupid. Roller Martin, your eyes are too red. Calm down, because you will not stop this movement that's taking place. Well, Ali Muhammad, you stupid. Because, see, here's what you need to understand.

Oh, we're stopping what's going on. Oh, we're going to stop. See, here's what this, in this case, Muhammad don't understand. The reason black people have not been more effective in organizing and mobilizing is because our black-owned media outlets have done what Dr. King said that we should not do.

So since some of y'all don't know what the hell y'all talking about, we'll just go ahead and read it to you. And I've read this before, but I have to sometimes remind y'all. King wrote in, where do we go from here, chaos or community? He said that there are four institutions

that are positioned to liberate black America. Four. In fact, this was, he actually said, there are already structured forces in the Negro community that can serve as the basis for building a powerful United front, the Negro church, the Negro press,

the Negro fraternities and sororities and Negro professional associations. He said, we must admit that these forces have never given their full resources to the cause of Negro liberation. He said, quote, too many Negro newspapers have veered away from their traditional role as protest organs agitating for social change and have turned to the sensational and the conservative in place of the substantive and the militant. What this little whatever person don't understand is that black folks, when your eyeballs are stuck on Zeus network,

where you watching Negroes fighting each other, you ain't got no clue that all these white folks are watching the Fox news, where they're organized and mobilized politically to shut everything that we have down. See, when you have all these black bloggers and black websites and black media outlets focusing on Sukahani and what in the hell is she doing, and entertainment, and this housewife, and this housewife, and what this person does. See, that has been the biggest mistake that we have allowed ourselves. We have allowed our aunts, uncles, mamas and daddies, grandmamas and granddaddies, nieces and nephews, sons and daughters, sorority, sisters, fraternity, brothers,

friends, associates, church members, and colleagues, to be so distracted by entertainment and sports bullshit and not the stuff that is having a direct impact on our future survival or the ability to thrive. So the reality is we're going to continue to inform. We're going to

continue to educate. We're going to continue to shine a light on this. And if nobody else is doing it, that's not my problem. But I can guarantee you that's what we're going to do, and we're not going to stop. I've got to go to a break. When we come back, I'm going to tell you what's happening in Tennessee, how they're trying to shut down again black representation,

how Republicans in North Carolina are trying to screw over black people again, and the governor says it when he vetoes the latest steal the vote bill. You're watching Roller Mark Under Filtration on the Black Star Network. The next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie. Summer is flying by and back to school is just around the corner and fall is here. That's right. A new season is upon us. On our next show, we talk about jumping into action and putting procrastination in the rearview mirror. That's on a next A Balanced Table with me. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time,

have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company

dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means

to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple podcast.

Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position, pre-game

to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. the Board of Education. The history books call it the court decision that ended racial segregation in American schools. But a brand new book, Jim Crow's Pink Slip, uncovers a devastating, unintended consequence of that 1954 Supreme Court decision. We may, if we were lucky, have been the very last generation of black students to have experienced these generations of black teachers who have never been replaced. Dr. Leslie Fenwick joins us to talk about her book and the actions following that landmark decision that dealt a virtual death blow to black educators. That's next on The Black Table,

right here on The Black Star Network. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, I'm sure you've heard that saying that the only thing guaranteed is death and taxes. The truth is that the wealthy get wealthier by understanding tax strategy. And that's exactly the conversation that we're going to have on the next Get Wealthy, where you're going to learn wealth hacks that help you turn your wages into wealth. Taxes is one of the largest expenses you ever have. You really got to know how to manage that thing and get that under control so that you can do well. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hello, I'm Paula J. Parker.

Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. Louder and Prouder on Disney+. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. I'm Phil. All right, folks. Republicans in Tennessee, they can't stand black people with an opinion. The speaker of the Tennessee House continues to verbally assault black representation by continuing to silence Representative Justin Jones. Folks, here's what happened just yesterday. Representative Justin Jones was speaking about a bill. The speaker declared that he was out of order and then decided to take a vote saying,

oh, if somebody's been declared out of order twice, they can vote to silence them for the day. But when a white Republican was ruled out of order, there was no vote. Now, how can you sit here and silence somebody who's asking about a bill who was sent there by the people? But y'all got to remember, Republicans silenced a sister in Oklahoma. Republicans silenced, where was it? Who was the transgender? Was it Montana?

Wyoming? One of them, it was in Montana. They literally silenced a transgender politician with the audacity to speak against one of their bills. They literally shut her up. This is what they do. Watch this. All right, Representative Jones, what's your question for the clerk? Thank you.

I have a parliamentary inquiry. With these new expedited rules and procedures that are happening, when would be the—this is to the clerk, to the parliamentarian. When is the appropriate time for me to make a motion of no confidence in Cameron Sexton as the Speaker of the House? Mr. Speaker, as I stated when I got this question before, it would be unfinished business. Representative Jones. If we proceed with Representative Cochran's motion to adjourn, will I have an opportunity to make this motion of no confidence, or do I do it now before this motion to adjourn? I believe that the people of Tennessee deserve to hear this vote. If you're confident in your leadership, take the vote, Mr. Speaker. Take the vote of no confidence and stand on your leadership.

Mr. Clark. Mr. Speaker, we need... We would have to dispose of this motion before we can move to any other business. And as I stated before, the appropriate time for the representative's motion would be under unfinished business. Representative Jones,

it has to be a question for inquiry. Representative Jones. Would it be appropriate to the parliamentarian to make a motion calling for a vote of no confidence prior to any vote to adjourn? I believe that is there a way for us to make sure that we have a vote of no confidence before adjourning and to have democracy played on this House? Or has the determination already been made that we're ending session without doing anything and not allowing members to voice motions that you've been informed of for days? Representative Faison, for what purpose? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Make a motion for order of the day. Motion's been heard. Orders of the day. We're on the motion to concur. You can't object to orders of the day. We're on the motion to concur. You can't object to orders of the day.

So we're voting. All those in favor of Senate joint resolution, vote aye when the bell rings. Those opposed, vote no. Has everyone voted? Does anybody wish to change their vote? Mr. Clerk, take the vote. Aye, 71, 18 nays. I hereby declare concurred in.

Without objection, motion to reach the table. Leader Cochran, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that the Journal of the House of Representatives and the proceedings thereof be approved from the first through the fifth legislative days of the first extraordinary session. Without objection, so ordered. Leader Lambert, Leader Cochran. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution number 150, I move the first extraordinary session of the House of Representatives of the 113th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee adjourned. Signing off. I hereby declare the first extraordinary session of the House of Representatives as the 113th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee. Sonny Dahl.

That was actually the wrong video. Here's what actually happened. Representative Jones asked a series of questions. They said, the Speaker said, if you're called out of order twice, then they can vote to actually silence you. The people in the gallery objected. He then ordered the state troopers

to remove everyone from the gallery. Now remember, these are the same Republicans who banned people from holding up signs at committee hearings. Guess what? A judge ruled today, I'm sorry, y'all can't do that. Joining us right now is someone who's been watching this stuff play out, is Antonio Parkinson, state representative, immediate past president,

immediate past chair of the Tennessee Black Caucus. Representative Parkinson, glad to have you on the show. I mean, we are seeing a very deliberate attempt by the Republicans in Tennessee to silence Black representation. Not just silence Black representation, but silence basically any dissent that is coming their way. And so it's Black representation. It is white representation. It is white moms who had children that were

hunted in Covenant School and any protesters that are fighting for common sense gun laws to be passed in the state of Tennessee. And Control Room, let me know when y'all have that video, because it was stunning to watch the Speaker of the House just shut down Representative Jones. You even had white Democrats still be saying, wait a minute, you ruled as white Republican out of order, nothing happened to him. Then they took a vote and then he got mad up, clear the gallery. I mean, what you have going on is you have a dictatorship in Tennessee. Yeah, that's what was attempted. And when that happened and what you're talking about is

yesterday's floor session, the video they played today was the floor session today. And there was total chaos today also. That may be another story for your show. But yesterday, Representative Geno Bosa, a Republican from Williamson County, was ruled out of order two times and nothing was said. And then when Representative Justin Jones was ruled out of order for the second time, they wanted to bring it to a floor vote to silence him for the rest of yesterday's session. And when they tried to do that, you know, chaos erupted again. You know, those in the galleries were totally, you know, upset about it and shouting. Those of us that were down on the floor were upset about it and shouting.

And when that happened, all of us, every Democrat that was on that House floor, we all walked out of the session and left. Now, you talked about chaos erupting today. Let's do this here guys. Start this video over and I want you to play this full sound so people can hear what happened. This is what happened. They literally ended the legislative session not wanting to even allow this vote to take place. This is what happened. Go Jets out! Go Jets out! Go Jets out!

Go Jets out! Go Jets out! Go Jets out! Go Jets out! Go Jets out! Go Jets out! Okay. Okay, Representative Parkinson, we're going to run that video again. So, guys, bring the sound down. I want you to speak over it.

Tell us, what the hell happened there? Did that white legislator, did he push, did he shove Representative Justin Pearson? So, what happened, it looks like, and we've been watching this video all day, but it looks like the Speaker's security pushed him to the side. Right there, that's the Speaker's security, the guy behind the Speaker. Right? And then you had the Republican leader, and I want you all to watch this part, the Republican leader with the red tie right there comes over and he's talking to Justin.

Now, I'm starting to make my way over. But when Justin tried to move left to get out, the Republican leader was getting in front of him, blocking him from moving. And that's where you see my hand come in, and I told him, get his ass out the way and get his ass off of Justin. Mark, you'll see that here. Well where you have to zoom out a little bit. And watch when Justin moves to the left to try to move, watch him move over in front of him. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Cor vet.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback.

Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Right there. Now he's blocking his path. He's trying to block him. Right. And I see you putting your arm in saying, hey, go ahead, say it again. Well, I'm trying to keep it as user-friendly on your show as possible,

but I basically told him, get his ass. No, no, no. No, no, no. I want you to say exactly what you told him. Oh, okay. Get your ass off of him and get out the way so he can get out, so he can move. Because I was behind him watching him move over to block

Justin from going out. We're not going to play that game. We're not going to play that intimidation game. But right there... And we saw there, the speaker's security shoved Justin backwards. First of all, a security

officer putting his hands on a state official yeah that's that's that's that's look that's what it looks like that's what it looks like happy and um yeah all right do y'all have a do y'all have a y'all have a video from yesterday y'all have it ready All right. Get that video. OK, because I think because, again, the stuff has been heated just just like crazy. And again, what took place yesterday was just shocking and stunning how these folks flat out do not want to allow that you look. Look, they expel Representative Pearson. They expel Representative Jones, you know, and what they're doing now is is just continuing to antagonize them, attack them, not allowing them to represent their constituents. They are basically saying we don't care about you guys representing your constituents. They are basically saying, we don't care

about you guys representing your constituents. We're going to do whatever it is that we want. But, Rolla, let me interject a little bit, too. It's bigger than that. You have to understand, we had the Covenant shooting, three

nine-year-olds killed, Covenant school, three nine-year-olds killed, three to school, three nine-year-olds killed, three adults killed that worked in the school. And then they ejected both Justin Pearson and Justin Jones. This was in April or May, I think it was. And then we had a lot of protesters coming up. Then we had the governor to call a special session. The Republican members of the House and Senate are totally pissed off at the governor to call a special session. The Republican members of the House and Senate

are totally pissed off at the governor because he actually called a special session. We come to special session, the mothers from the Covenant School and other protesters and Moms Demand Actions and Common Sense Gun Law protest people that wanted to see something done showed up again. And this time they're showing up in more numbers. Well, those members, those parents that were, whose children

were hunted, were shot at, were kicked out of committee rooms, kicked out of those, that's the people that were kicked out of the gallery. And then they were trying to shut down anyone that wanted to talk about common sense gun legislation. So that's when they started, they tried to shut down Justin Jones when he was speaking. And that brings us up to the video that you guys are going to play in just a second. But I can tell you this, everyone that had a dissenting opinion in regards to what they were trying to run during this special session were basically somewhat muted or muted totally

or kicked out of the building. And here's what's important to note also. During this special session, they were actually attempting to run legislation that worked counter to public safety, such as allowing anyone with a gun permit to run up on a school and respond to situations in schools. So, and let me preface that.

On the Monday that we got here, the first thing that we saw was the banner unfurled by the Proud Boys on the Capitol steps with their AR-15s on their shoulder. Wow. That's the first thing we saw Monday morning. Wow. And so, Proud Boys, a lot of them are gun, are carry permit holders.

That means that they will be able to come up So Proud Boys, a lot of them are gun or carry permit holders. That means that they will be able to come up on a public school anytime they felt it necessary because they had an enhanced or a carry permit, you know, issued by the state of Tennessee. So the session that we were coming to to work on legislation for gun safety was going counter. And then you had the Republican leadership in the House and the Republican leadership in the Senate clashing, I mean, publicly clashing with each other. And then you had both of them also publicly clashing with the governor. So you got this three-way fight that's happening publicly

because they're all mad at each other. But the victims, the true victims of all of this lack of leadership and this debacle that was taking place over these last five days are the citizens of Tennessee who are still dying because there is no common sense gun policy happening in the state of Tennessee. Unbelievable. And that's what happens. That's what happens when you have authoritarian rulers who have absolutely no backup, no consequence.

I mean, they can just do whatever the hell they want. Representative Parkinson, we appreciate you joining us. Thanks a lot. Yeah, man. Thanks for having me. Thank you very much. Folks, I'm going to go to a break. We come back to my panel.

I'm going to show the video from yesterday. The thanks video from the people of Tennessee holler. You want to talk about what's nuts. I mean, literally, these people are shutting down a black state rep elected by the people because they still are pissed at him because he has the audacity to question them. You're watching Roland Martin on the filter of the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets of the Black.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part

of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the rise of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes, we're going to talk to Leslie Segar,

a.k.a. Big Les, and talk about her incredible career as a dancer, choreographer, and DJ of Rap City. Magic Johnson was there, so half the NBA was there. He modeled the supermodels, so all the supermodels were there every day, acting like it was a who's who of supermodels. So all the supermodels were there every day, acting. Like it was a who's who of who's who.

Right here on The Frequency in the Black Star Network. I don't play Sammy, but I could. Or I don't play Obama, but I could. I don't do Stallone, but I could do all that. And I am here with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. The folks with the Tennessee Holler sent us this video, folks. If you want to understand how democracy is being destroyed before our very eyes, this is from yesterday in the Tennessee legislature the Republicans dominate. What our schools need are mental health professionals. We need funding for mental health, for counselors. We need to pay our teachers better.

We don't need more police in our schools. Representative Jones, you're off the bill again, sir. You're out of order. Sorry. Representative Jones, you're off the bill again, sir. You're out of order. Sorry. Representative Pearson, you're recognized. Oh, that's two. I'm sorry, we're on the board. That's the second time being out of order today.

For being off the bill. There's no point in avoiding it. It's non-debatable. We're on the board. Is that right, Mr. Clerk? That's correct. If somebody were to stand up and have a bill on the floor, even though they've been silenced, they should still be

able to come up into that well and present their bill. If someone raises their hands and make a motion, that is not a debate of remarks. So I want to know how the clerk is taking this to interpret that this member can no longer make a motion or present legislation that he has been elected to give. Mr. Speaker, I don't know how a member could present a motion or a bill if they are not allowed to be recognized for debate or remarks. Mr. Clerk, take the vote. Mr. Clerk, take the vote. The gallery's ruled out of order. Aye, 70, 20 nays.

Department of Safety, please clear the balcony for disorderly behavior. And it passes. Mr. Clark. Larry, these people are absolutely deranged in Tennessee. Yeah, they're saying people call for law and order all the time, right? You know, Roland, we're constantly seeing over the last couple of years the deterioration of democracy in the United States. And, you know, this is why your platform is so important to talk about these important issues, particularly this happening not at this national level, but it's happening in states like Tennessee and Florida and others. But this goes back to my earlier point. If people don't wake up to see what's happening, then we want to find ourselves in a dictatorship.

And there have been efforts underway for the last several years just to make sure that happens. But what happened in Tennessee is just a microcosm of generally what's wrong with our society. And in a contradiction that, you know, there's one political party always historically talks about the importance of following the rules and doing the right thing, the Republican Party. And then we find is that it's all hypocrisy. And so some of these same individuals would talk about, quote, Dr. King or, you know, all the others, some of the civil rights, you know, those who fought for civil rights throughout the United States history, but would do the polar opposite of what Dr. King and other civil rights activists fought for. And that is to make sure that Black folks have equal footing when it comes to the rest of America, which is not happening. And we certainly see that in Tennessee, which is,

once again, another example of the problems we see in state legislators throughout the United States, particularly those, Roland, that have been, because of super majorities held by the Republican Party. Michael. You know, Roland, I'm glad you showed that. I was reading articles about this, and this is about, this is purely. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers. But we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. Arapahoe, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad.

That's Dadication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. It's got to be about power. This is not about fairness. This is not about by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. It's about power. This is not about fairness. This is not about following the rules as far as Republicans are concerned. And this is about attacking African-American elected officials who are standing up for their communities and trying to push legislation that is beneficial for their communities. And, you know, in the previous segment, we mentioned Dr. King, and you read from page

132 of his book, Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community. But also, April 3rd, 1968, Dr. King talked about we have to always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. And what's missing here, and this ties into when you named all the Republicans who were financed by the Republican billionaires, the top three, four, five corporations that are financing the tenants, the Republicans in Tennessee, Jim Jordan, all these other Republicans, Kevin McCarthy, there has to be nationwide economic boycotts of those three, four, five top corporations,

okay, to redistribute the pain through targeted, sustained economic withdrawal strategies, which is what Dr. King preached, okay? So, yes, vote them out, but the election is not until November 2024, okay? We can vote with our dollars, and when you put economic pressure on those corporations that put these Republicans in place, you can better push your agenda because they're going to pick up the phone. When they're losing too much money, these corporations, they're going to pick up the phone and tell them, look, you need to vote this way because they tell them to vote the other way that's beneficial to the people who are paying them.

So we have to understand how all this works. Folks, let's not talk about North Carolina. Again, I keep telling y'all what Republicans are doing. And so I love these people who like me, I'm going, I'm thinking about sitting in election out. I ain't trying to sit here. You know, I don't know. I'm like, are y'all that dumb? What these people are doing? This is Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina. I could keep going on and on and on. So what did the Republicans do when they got a super majority? They immediately said we had ram, ram rotting this, uh, this, this voter bill, the voter security bill,

which is utter bullshit. And the governor of North Carolina essentially said, this is some bullshit. This is what the governor, Roy Cooper, Democrat, said today when he vetoed this bill. He said, quote, this legislation has nothing to do with election security and everything to do with Republicans keeping and gaining power in working to erect new barriers for young and non-white voters, many of whom use early voting absentee ballots.

This bill also hurts adults, rural voters, and people with disabilities. It requires ballot votes to be tossed out if the post office delivers them even one minute after 7.30 p.m. on election day, or if a computer rejects a signature. It encourages voter intimidation at the polls by election deniers and conspiracy believers. North Carolina has conducted fair and secure elections,

but this bill will block voters and their ballots unnecessarily. Therefore, I veto the bill. Now, the Republicans, they cannot override it because they've got a super majority. They've overwritten 15 vetoes this session, including six last week. Now, that's North Carolina.

Check this out. In Wisconsin, the Republicans are mad as hell, y'all, that Democrats now have a four to three majority of the state Supreme Court. So take this out. Conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler is now accusing the liberal majority of staging a coup. In the scathing email, Ziegler claims the liberal justices conducted an illegal experiment voting to weaken her powers, firing the state court director, Randy Koschnik, appointing interim director, Audrey Skrwoski, and creating a committee composed of the chief justice

and two justices picked by the Court's majority members to assume some of her responsibilities. The liberal justices voted August 4th to change the Court's rules. This move has sparked a heated exchange between them since Judge Janet Brutasiewicz joined the bench giving liberals a 4-3 majority, which Republicans have held for 15 years. Now Ziegler refuses to schedule meetings with the committee formed by the liberal justices, considering it unconstitutional. Remembrancations of this, the Wisconsin Supreme Court are expected to have long-term effects on the court's operation and public perception.

Now y'all, let me help y'all out. Republicans, when they got the majority, they actually stripped. See, y'all gonna make me go there. Let me unpack this. So let's see. The conservative chief justice is mad because the liberals changed the rules when they got the majority. The Republicans, when they got the majority in the legislature, changed the rules and stripped the Democratic governor

of a number of his powers, including appointing people to state boards. They stripped the Wisconsin Attorney General of some of his powers. Now, Larry, I'm confused. When the Republicans get power, they get to change the rules. But when the Democrats get power, all hell is a coup. Yeah. So, Roland, this is this is an example of what's good for you. You know, I'm going to do I'm going to do the exact opposite. And listen, the crazy thing about this,

when you talk about Wisconsin, that this has been done, this is, you know, in terms of stripping, undermining the efforts of the governor's power has happened in other states over the last couple of years. And Roland, it's just the bottom line is what's happened to Republicans.

They're like, yeah, we're cheating in open and what are you going to do about it? So my colleague talked about the important, you know, not winning for the election and using, you know, economics to pressure the powers that be to to make sure that they're they're on the right side of history. But, Roland, this is this is an old broken record. I mean, we've been dealing with this quickly during the Jim Crow. Just folks who just changed changed the rules to make it harder for people to people, those individuals who voted to and voted certain individuals to power to make sure it never happens. And listen, you know, I read the article

about the chief justice and some of his concerns, but the bottom line is he doesn't care. And now that, you know, like you said, you said that, you know, the Democrats, local judges have the majority. It could have a massive impact on what happened with Sikansan. And then obviously, as we talk about transitioning to 2024.

But the black and white Republicans, they don't cheat and don't care. They change the rules all the time. The city here in the state of Florida, you talk about North Carolina, Wisconsin, we could just keep going. A lot of these states, former Confederate states, also, I guess, that are changing a lot of these policies. And they have super majorities. And when they do finally lose and have the egg on their face, they pretty much say, well, we're just going to change the rules.

And what are you going to do about it? Michael, this is why I keep saying Democrats, when you get power, use it. Absolutely. And Democrats in Wisconsin, at least, are learning from Republicans because they're changing the rules. And that's what you have to do. Like I said, you're dealing with Republicans. You're dealing with cutthroat gangsters. They don't care about fairness. They don't care about equity, anything like that. All they care about is raw, naked power. And when we look at North Carolina, remember, North Carolina is a former Confederate state. And in these former Confederate states especially, there has always been the fear of

black political power. There's always been the fear of African-Americans voting in mass, electing African-American elected officials, passing laws that white people then have to follow. And this is something that we see right now in North Carolina as well. So once again, politics is the legal distribution that scares wealth, power, and resources. And we see this play out in both North Carolina and Wisconsin. So this is why we have to vote strategically. We don't vote for exercise. If you want exercise, you go to the gym and work out. You vote for power. You vote for black political power. And Roli, can I add something really quickly here? I think we got to, as we talk about some of these efforts, these efforts in, you know,

like I said, former Confederate states in Wisconsin, I think we got to go back. I know we talked about this show before. In terms of the impact, Shelby County versus Holder in 2013, the impact it had rever versus holder 2013 the impact that had reverberated for the last couple of years so i think it's really important to highlight that in terms of some of the challenges we're talking about previously well actually i think it's two shelby county is one but also the the lawsuit from a white guy in Ohio when he was kicked, actually a three, Shelby V. County, the Supreme Court decision, the white guy who was kicked off the voting rolls in Ohio, he hadn't voted in a couple of elections, and he actually filed a lawsuit, and they were like,

oh yeah, they could go ahead and do that. Huge deal. And thirdly, political gerrymandering. The Supreme Court, the John Roberts-led Supreme Court ruling that they don't have a say in state gerrymandering because, oh, well, that's up to the states. Well, when you've had your state races gerrymandered as well, I mean, that's need you to understand, the reason Republicans are freaking out in Wisconsin is because they have so rigged the elections that if Democrats in Wisconsin, and the numbers even show it, get 55% of the vote, they still are going to be in the minority in the legislature.

They are threatening right now to impeach the newly elected Wisconsin Supreme Court justice because they see what's coming. And to every, and to every black person in North Carolina, let me say this again, to every black person in North Carolina who sat on your ass in 2022,

in 2022, the Republicans now control the state Supreme Court in North Carolina. And that's why the Republican legislature now can do what they want because they have a super majority in the legislature and they control the state Supreme Court. I keep telling all of y'all who are watching and listening, my goodness, please understand what is going on.

This is a battle for power. Right. They want to control the laws. They want to control the money. They want to control the laws. They want to control the money. They want to control the courts. And when we as black people sit our asses at home, when we do not vote in North Carolina and South Carolina and Florida and Mississippi and Louisiana and Texas and Arkansas and Tennessee. We make it. I know a lot of cops and they get asked all the time.

Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts binge episodes one two and three on may 21st and episodes four five and six on june 4th ad free at lava for good plus on apple podcasts i'm clayton english i'm greg glad and this is season two of the war on drugs podcast sir we are back in a big way in a very big way real people real And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game.

We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pregame to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Easy for them to do what they do. I cannot say enough. people would vote at about 75% of our eligible numbers.

Listen to me. I'm telling y'all, it's in the data. Now, if we voted at 75% of our numbers, Mandela Barnes would be United States Senator from Wisconsin and not Republican Ron Johnson. Sherry Beasley would be Democratic Senator from North Carolina and not, and not the fool she ran against.

If we voted our numbers, y'all, Republicans would not have a super majority in Tennessee, would not have a super majority in Florida. They would not have the numbers in Mississippi. Y'all, this is no joke. Their people are voting in big numbers. And I'm going to say this loudly as possible to all of y'all. They are ready to show up and show out in 2024. And if they get the White House

and they already got the House and they get control of the Senate, what y'all have seen in Florida and Texas is going to happen seen in Florida and Texas is going to happen to the entire country.

Larry, you're in Florida. Let these people know I'm not lying. Yeah. I mean, you're telling the truth, Roland. I mean, I'm not lying. Yeah, I mean, you're telling the truth, Roland. I mean, I've experienced, since I've been down there, the anti-Black policies essentially become a template and adopted in other states like your home state of Texas, among others.

And you're right, Roland. Listen, I'm originally from the Northeast, so I've know experience this kind of level of anti-Blackness. But if we're not – if folks don't go out to vote like you described, then we will continue to take some major Ls in elections. And not because we certainly don't care, but because the system is already designed to make sure that you always dilute the Black vote. And I think a lot of things, Roland, for brothers and sisters who are watching the show, what Roland is saying has been proven by state legislators making it, like we talked about North Carolina, purposely taking steps to make it difficult, more difficult for blacks and other minoritized populations to vote, for disabled folks to vote, and also for young people to vote. So if you don't believe Roland, what's happening in these other states like North Carolina, among others, in terms of making it harder for people to vote

prior, you know, leading up to election day and election day, no food, no water, all the other things you see, efforts you see, this is an effort to make sure you don't go out to vote. So when you do go out to vote, like Roland highlighted, we can change the society and make sure that Black folks, like I said, have equal footing that they had deserved

for the last 400 plus years. Michael, you're in Michigan. Yes. Outside of Detroit and Lansing and some other places, hell, y'all Alabama. But what happened? Folk voted and you have Democrats who control the House and the Senate and the governor's mansion, and they have been able to pass effective policies that speak to our people because they've used the power. Yes. Yep. Used the power when we have it. It's the first time in decades that Democrats have controlled the govern, and then both chambers of our state legislature as well. And that is really understanding this threat that's coming.

And people, you know, African-Americans, generally speaking, have not really been educated on how laws and policies are connected to the conditions that they experience and how to actually change the laws and policies by changing who you put into these elected offices and understanding that we don't have to tolerate being mistreated, okay? We can fire these people. But one of the reasons why many of our people don't fight back is because many of our people don't think they're worth fighting for. I've said that before, okay? When you are being inundated with negative stereotypical images of African Americans on a daily basis, then that depresses how you see yourself. So this is one of the reasons why the information coming from the Black Star Network is so important.

What you do for yourself, what you do to yourself, and what you allow other people to do to you and get away with is based upon what you think about yourself. And we have to understand how to push our agendas to bring into existence the policies that we say that we want. And one of the most important things is that we have to understand how to perceive threats. Andrew Gillum told us

in 2018, I'm not saying Governor, I'm not saying Ron DeSantis is a racist. I'm saying the racists believe he's a racist. He was trying to warn us. Too many woke-ass Black people in Florida said they weren't voting for Andrew Gillum because he didn't have a Black agenda. I said, Rhonda Sanders has a Black agenda. He has an anti-Black agenda. And an anti-Black agenda is worse than not having a quote-unquote so-called Black agenda. We see the evidence of the policies coming out of Florida. So we have to be able to perceive

these threats and stop them. And then at the same time, we have to vote to keep people in office who will protect gains that have been made for us as well, because that's one of the things that's been lacking, us understanding how to protect gains that have been made also, as opposed to just what somebody can do for us or voting somebody in new and, you know, what their policies can do for us. You also have to understand how to protect gains that have already been made. Let me close this segment out with this before I go to break and I'm going to play a couple of bites with Chris Tucker Golf Tournament. So this, I'm addressing this specifically to all of you simple Simon punk asses.

Rolling Martin, all you try to do is get a check. Ain't your dumb ass trying to get a check? now some of y'all same fools who accuse me of trying to get a democratic check ain't y'all backing reparations who supports reparations more than republicans matter of fact I ain't seen one Republican

and Larry and Michael, let me know if y'all know one. I ain't seen one Republican in the House or the Senate speak in support of reparations. Am I correct? Not even the black ones.

The black Republicans don't even support reparations. Yeah. Right. Right. So when you fools say, oh, you tries to get a check, ain't your dumb ass trying to get a check? Aren't you trying to get more contracts? Don't you want money coming to the black community?

So I'm confused here. When you idiots think that you are owning me by saying, you just trying to get a check. But your ass trying to get a check. But your ass trying to get a check.

So, I'm confused. If I am advocating for black people and if I am advocating for more money to go to HBCUs, don't that mean I'm trying to get a check? If I'm advocating for some of the $600 billion in the infrastructure bill to come to black people. Is that not a check?

If we trying to get health dollars, commerce dollars, Pentagon dollars, HHS dollars, labor dollars, agriculture dollars. Is that not a check? Absolutely. So I'm confused. So are they. How do you think that's a negative? Yes. So are they. Y'all are the same fools who will quote Dr. King, who literally said in 1963, 60 years ago yesterday, we came to D.C. to cash a check step insufficient funds. Correct. The same MLK who five years later

on April 3rd, 1968 said we will practice economic withdrawal from those businesses that won't do business and won't hire us. Is that not a check? You are shading me When you say all you trying to do is get a check So are you

I'll be back I know a lot of cops And they get asked all the time Have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that tasaser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1.

Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a

compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne for brothers osborne we have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing benny the butcher brent smith from shineinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling.

The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes, rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers at tayPaperCeiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from L.A. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation.

You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together. So let's talk about it and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Black Star Network.

Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes, we're going to talk to Leslie Segar, a.k.a. Big Les, and talk about her incredible career as a dancer, choreographer, and VJ of Rap City. Magic Johnson was there, so half the NBA was there. Yvonne the Supermodel, so all the supermodels were there every day, acting like it was a who's who, a who's who, right here on The Frequency and the Black Star Network.

On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, I'm sure you've heard that saying that the only thing guaranteed is death and taxes. The truth is that the wealthy get wealthier by understanding tax strategy. And that's exactly the conversation that we're going to have on the next Get Wealthy, where you're going to learn wealth hacks that help you turn your wages into wealth. Taxes is one of the largest

expenses you ever have. You really got to know how to manage that thing and get that under control so that you can do well. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hi, I'm Jo Marie Payton, voice of Sugar Mama on Disney's Louder and Prouder Disney+. And I'm with Roland Martin on Unfiltered.

All right, y'all. Monday, I hung out with Chris Tucker at his celebrity golf tournament, raising money for his foundation. He's helping kids all across Atlanta and across the country. And a couple of folks were there. It was great to see my man, George Wallace. Check this out. I told him, I got a rain suit. I ain't got a lightning suit. If it didn't come through, let me know.

That was with Glenn Turman. And control me. They haven't gotten the George Wallace. Of course, George was absolutely crazy. As usual, being his George Wallace self. But he came on out to support Chris as well. And so he was absolutely hilarious. Again, folks, great work being done by Chris and some of the others. And you know what, Larry?

This is the thing that I think a lot know, really don't understand. You know, people see a lot of these celebrities, and they see them on red carpets and doing movies. But, look, in the last three months, I've played Chris Tucker's golf tournament, Seth Yantana's golf tournament, Anthony Anderson's golf tournament, George Lopez's golf tournament, Steve Harvey, Lawrence Taylor, six different people. And the kind of work, the camps, the reading programs, it's so many things these folks are doing that a lot of people literally have no idea about and it gets no attention.

That's why we say rolling your platform your platform is so important, because you're right. You know, I've been on the show a number of times. You've been to a number of these events raising money. And often these celebrities, these Black celebrities, other minoritized groups, not only do they raise the money, Roland, they realize they have to make a difference. So there's that added, we kind of had

Black tax, that added responsibility, realizing you had this celebrity, you've done well for yourself, but you've got to give back to the black community. And like I said, you're not going to see this on mainstream outlets highlighting how black folks are giving back to their own community because that would be counter to all the stereotypes and misconceptions they have about black folks. So once again, it is, I'm great to see these, you know, entertainers athletes giving back to the black community and into a lot of these really important, you know, endeavors. But once again, if you don't cover it, who's going to cover it? And the answer really is no one else. I remember Michael, when I had my show Washington watch on TV one, we went to the NBA All-Star Game

in Los Angeles. And we did I think we did two shows. So we did two one-hour episodes. And we called it Black Sports Philanthropy. And the purpose of it was

we went to a lot of different events in L.A. And I remember Alonzo Mourning, Magic Johnson, Paul Pierce, Dwayne Wade, and some others. And we literally showed all of these events that were happening at the All-Star Game that was raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars for these athletes' foundations and charities. And when we talk about backpacks for schools,

and we're talking about school supplies, I mean, you know, paying for prom dresses for people who can't afford it. I mean, we can name so many different things that are happening. And I just think that our people need to understand, because I hate it when people go, man, you know, do you know black celebrities need to be doing more? It's a bunch of folk who are doing stuff that they don't get any credit for and people have no idea about. And so those things matter. Absolutely. This is another reason why African-American-owned media is so important. And even if it's a celebrity entertainer who I may not like or may not agree with many things that they do or their lyrics,

if they do something positive, I think that still needs to be highlighted also, okay? Because if they do something negative, it's going to be on all the blogs, it's going to be here and there and Shade Room, all this stuff, right? But a lot of times when they give the scholarships, when they help African Americans go to college, when they give the different funds, things like this, that gets overlooked. So that has to be highlighted. And this shows the power, one, of African-American owned media to be able to tell this story. But two, this is why our entertainers have to have the proper contracts. They have to be able to hold on to their money as well after they

reach the peak of their career. So they have to have proper financial strategies and accountants and financial planners, things of this nature, to be able to hold on to that money so they can support our initiatives also. But this is, you know, this is extremely important. Indeed, indeed it is. Michael Laird we so appreciate it thank you so very much folks if you want to support us in what we do please do so and I can't I'm going to say this and again

it's several thousand of y'all watching and we appreciate everybody who's giving to the show but I can't stress it enough ain't none of this stuff free this live streaming Appreciate everybody who's given to the show. But I can't stress it enough. Ain't none of this stuff free. This live streaming, this live view, this LU800, the camera, the light, this hotel room, the airfare.

None of this stuff is free. We can't cover the story. We can't have the fearless fun on those two sisters. We can't have Representative Tennessee on. We can't have our guests on, folks, and stuff is free. And I'm going to tell you right now, the reason Ebony Magazine was so powerful, because it had a rate, a circulation of 1.2 million, and black people were paying that $12 a year for that subscription to Ebony Magazine. They were paying for Jet

Magazine. Yeah, we're paying for content. The Chicago Defender became the most powerful black newspaper in the country, the Pittsburgh Courier, because black people were putting their nickels and dimes together and buying those newspapers. Now, we don't charge for our content. I purposely chose not to do a subscription model because I wanted our news to be free for our people. I can't tell y'all how many mothers and fathers and children come up to me and people who now are adults say, oh my God, I learned so much about politics and news and history from watching your show. But y'all, ain't no show if ain't no money. And in a couple of weeks, I'm doing another episode updating you on the advertising community,

who supports us, who doesn't, who we've been meeting with. And we're going to do that once every quarter. But I'm telling y'all right now, it ain't easy. When I look up and I see these ads on Fox News, Mercedes. Mercedes Benz sponsors a segment on The Five on Fox News. Absolutely opinion show hardcore right wing except for one

progressive on the show, Jessica Tarloff. Spending nothing with us nothing I see PepsiCo nothing Toyota black folks buy lots of Pepsi lots of Toyotas

what shall black and all media spend Ford Chrysler What shall black and all media spend? Ford. Chrysler. I mean, we could just start going down the line. So your resources are critical. All I ask is on average 50 bucks per person. If 20,000 of our fans annually gave $50. That's a million dollars. That is huge. of our fans annually gave $50.

That's a million dollars. That is huge. Our expenses, y'all, $195,000 a month. I'm just telling you. That's just straight up. So see your ticket money order at PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash Shepherds, dollar sign RM Unfiltered.

PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zale is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. And I got to shout out Jeanette, Jeanette Hawes, Timothy Davis, Cheryl Jackson, Jennifer Jones, Siobhan, Demarcus Dandridge, James, Jamal Drake, Rob Prello, Charles Radcliffe, Michael Potts, Christy Merriweather, Sheila Giles, Shirlane Carrington, Michelle Embry, Etta Hassan, Leslie, Bill Snuggs, Elgin Jennings, Nathaniel Ards,

Madonna Miller, Laverne, Betty Demps, Lance Reese, Yoronda Miller, Keith Simmons, Dobie Gavin, Stephen Campbell, Jeffrey Carter, Rita Wallace-Moore, Andre Wilson, Frank Williams, Nina Carter, Sean Nash, Gail Wiley, Donald Rush. All those folks who have given to the show on Cash App, and I absolutely appreciate all of you.

So folks, please support what we do. Be sure to get a copy of my book, Why Fear? How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds. All proceeds come right back into the show as well. Books a Million, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target. You can download the audio version on Audible. All right, folks, back in studio tomorrow. Can't wait until then.

Holla! Folks, Black Star Network is here. Hold no punches! I'm real revolutionary right now. I'm proud. We support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roller.

Stay black. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scary. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home, you dig? you I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive.

But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling, the limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers

at taylorpapersceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated.

I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war.

This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.